🇺🇸 - 5280 Knight -⚡🔛

Prop NN says Colorado can put more money into schools “without raising taxes.” Which sounds fantastic. More money for schools. No tax increase. Everybody wins. Naturally, that means I went looking for the part written in smaller font. And there it is. Prop NN does not raise your tax rate. What it does is raise Colorado’s TABOR revenue limit and let the state keep money that otherwise could have been refunded to taxpayers. In other words: Your taxes don’t go up. The state just gets permission to keep more of the money it already collected. That distinction matters. According to the state’s own analysis, Prop NN is expected to eliminate TABOR refunds entirely for budget years 2026-27 and 2027-28, allowing the state to retain roughly: $330 million the first year and $521 million the next. Depending on future revenue, the reduction in refunds could eventually exceed $1,000 per taxpayer in some years. So when the ballot says: “without raising taxes” what it really means is: “We’re not changing the tax rate. We’re changing how much of your overpayment the state gets to keep.” Slightly less catchy. Now, for the first ten years, the retained money is directed toward K-12 education and programs supporting children. That sounds pretty straightforward. But here’s another piece voters need to know: The higher TABOR revenue limit does not expire after ten years. It continues indefinitely. And after the first ten years, the restrictions loosen. A portion remains dedicated to certain education purposes, but remaining money in the Children’s Account can be spent on purposes future legislatures decide. So this is not: “Give schools extra money for ten years.” It’s closer to: “Permanently let the state retain more revenue, with stronger education restrictions for the first decade.” That is a MUCH bigger policy decision. And to be fair, there’s a legitimate argument FOR it. Colorado schools need money. Teachers cost money. Special education costs money. Rural districts need help. Buildings, transportation, support staff, none of it is free. If voters decide that funding those things is more important than receiving TABOR refunds, that’s a perfectly defensible position. But voters deserve to be told what they’re actually trading. Because “more school funding without raising taxes” makes it sound like Colorado discovered a money printer behind the Capitol. It didn’t. The money is coming from somewhere. In this case, it’s coming from money taxpayers otherwise could have received back. You can support that trade. You can oppose that trade. Just don’t pretend there isn’t one. “Without raising taxes” may be technically true. “Without costing taxpayers anything” absolutely is not. #ColoradoPolitics #PropNN